October is the most glorious month of the year—it’s not even that close. And the best day of the best month is Halloween, the most revered holiday at Molotov HQ. Three years ago, we started our quarterly flash fiction contest series with Flash Monster, and we’re thrilled to return to that theme again as you’ve unleashed some of the most sinister stories we’ve ever had the pleasure to read.

We read a large number of stories that were worthy of being featured, but the competition was stiff this time around. The following writers had stories that made it through several rounds of cuts, but didn’t quite squeak into the Top 10.

The Top 10 that you’ll find below will be published in our forthcoming Flash Monster 2017 mega-issue, which will drop at the stroke of midnight (PST) on Halloween. They will also be included in a future Prize Winners Anthology print issue, to be published in 2018.

Enough blathering. Here are the goods.

10th Place – “Cut Carve Slice” by Andrew Bourelle

9th Place – “Comeviatorum” by Emily Livingstone

8th Place – “The Arms” by Jennifer Lynn Krohn

7th Place – “A Warning from the Wood” by Madeleine Ebacher

6th Place – “I Had a Boneyard in the Dakotas” by Michael Carter

5th Place – “This Thing of Darkness, I” by Philip Webb Gregg

4th Place – “Yetimaker” by Michael Carter

And now on to those stories that really made us smile.

3rd Place ($50)

“Goop”by Chris Milam

2nd Place ($100)

“Full Custody”by Latifa Ayad

1st Place ($200)

“Moist”by Erin O’Shea

Congrats to the winners and a huge thanks to everyone who participated in the Flash Monster 2017 contest. You cooked up some truly monstrous flash fiction, and we couldn’t host these contests without you. Check back tomorrow for the Flash Monster mega-issue!